New Beginnings
by baby-kitsune9
Summary: Everyone was gone with the exception of Hiei, Yusuke, Kuwabara and most importantly of all...his mother. Without them there Kurama is having trouble coping though he hides it well. Which is why a fresh start is needed and he decides to move to America. Set eighty or so years after the Canon series. Kurama/OC please R&R
1. Chapter 1

**Okay people, I know that I just posted my first Yu Yu Hakusho story- But I'm stuck and my mind wanders. So I'd like to start on my second story wich is another Kurama/OC fic set eighty years after the Canon series. **

**Kurama and Hiei are on their own now that their only ties to both the demon world and human world have died. ****The spirit detective, Yusuke, and his wife Kieko- had both perished in a freak car accident at thirty years of age. **

**Kuwabara and Yukina married, however due to the fact that Kuwabara was mortal- Yukina chose to die with him when he finally went. He died of cancer after a five year battle with the illness just six years after Yusuke and Kieko. Like the Urimeshi's they had no children.**

**Kurama's mother lived to be in her seventies before realizing that her son was not human due to the fact that he no longer seemed to age. However despite this fact, Kurama's mother continued to love him even as she drew her last breath. Leaving Kurama almost completely alone in the world and so the fox plans to lay his mother to rest and move across the ocean to America. **

**Hopefully for a fresh start. And that is where our story begins...**

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"So, you're sure that you really want to do this?" Hiei asked the red head as he handed him a suit case and tried not to tense up everytime someone walked by the two of them. It had only been three months since Kurama's human mother had been laid to rest and in that time, the fox demon had set things up with the help of Spirit World so that his software company would be left to his supposed 'grandson'.

Kurama Minamoto.

Which was convienent, Hiei supposed since it meant that the fox would come back from time to time to check up on things and see how he was doing. Little did Kurama know that Hiei already planned to make things a tad eisier on the fox and had purchased a ticket for a later fight to America so that he would be in the same area as Kurama and could keep an eye on him like the fox had kept an eye on him when his sister had died.

Green eyes flickered to the fire demon's face as he took the bag from him, a tight lipped smile curveing his lips as he said, "No. Not really." But what exactly did he have to stay for? Hung unsaid between the two and Hiei sighed.

He supposed that moving across the ocean had seemed like a good idea to the fox three months ago when he had been busy grieving for his mother. But now- now he could see the indecision in Kurama's eyes for a brief moment before the red head seemed to shrug it off and give him another tight lipped smile.

Hiei wasn't sure if the fox demon did so because it was a deeply ingrained habit or if it was to hide the small fangs he'd grown upon his twentieth year. Because despite being born a fox demon/human hybrid- there were just some things that were too deeply ingrained on his DNA to be dismissed. Instinct was merely one of those things. His current physical appearance was just another.

Covertly looking over Kurama as he collected several other things, Hiei noted how tall he had gotten, a whopping six foot three inches. His long red hair was pulled back in a neat ponytail and hung all the way to the small of his back. His shoulders were broader, his build a bit more muscular- much like Hiei's own- and his face... Gone was the baby fat that had shaped his face through much of his childhood and teenage years, leaving behind a more perfect blend of his human and demon genes, making him appear so masculinly beautiful that sometimes even Hiei had difficulty looking at him.

And god knew his friend got more than his fair share of attention from fawning young girls and sometimes (if one could even believe such nonesense) _men_. All of whom Kurama made a point to ignore. But then he didn't like being chased. He never had.

No if there was ever someone to catch and hold the ancient fox's attenttion then that person would not be the type to have their head turned by a pretty face or a nice body, nor by the multitudes of millions Kurama had stored away. No, The kind of person Kurama would go for would be sweet, kind, humble yet fierce. And he would chase her (or him) to the ends of the earth and back.

There was a screetching sound somewhere behind them and Hiei twisted his head around to see what the annoying noise was only to bristle at the sight of Kurama's current fan club. "Hn, looks like you're fans are going to bid you goodbye."

Kurama cast a glance in the direction the fire demon was looking and muttered darkly, "Damn reporters must have printed something in the paper."

"Hn."

"Hey Hiei-"

"No." Hiei answered quickly, recognising that tone of voice. That last time he'd heard that tone the two of them had gone on a bit of a bender with Ysuske and had been apprehended by some old friends and then spent a week detoxing in spirit world. And while the bender itself had been...well, epic. The detoxing hadn't been. In fact the three friends had spent a great deal of time puzzling over the two severed fingers Yusuke had had on his person. So now when Hiei heard that tone in Kurama's voice- he very quickly and automatically said _no_ to everything the fox threw at him no matter how much fun it might sound.

"Not even one?" Kurama tried coaxing. Hiei rolled his eyes.

"No."

"Damn." Kurama muttered sounding disappointed. "I used to be much better at coaxing you into doing my bidding."

"Yeah. Must be losing you're touch in you're old age." Hiei said as the two exchanged devious smirks. They both knew that even now, living as a human- Kurama could get him to do anything he wanted. If it wasn't by coaxing. Then it would be by blackmail. The humiliating kind that actually made Hiei freeze up in terror as he wondered just how the fuck the fox always managed to get such good dirt on him?

Kurama sighed and finished grabbing his things quickly since a cautionary glance in the direction of the mob of human females was starting to look like they might manage to break through security at any moment. And the last thing he wanted was a repeat of his last international trip almost ten years ago.

Which from the moment he had stepped into the airport to the moment he had been escourted half naked and feeling very disgruntled by the sudden ambush the women had set up for him, to his plane by security- had been nothing but one very big, mind boggling disaster.

After that Kurama had more or less vowed never to go out in public again for as long as possible, however the sudden illness and death of his mother had kept him from staying behind locked doors for too very long.

And now he was leaving... Hiei wondered what Yusuke and Kuwabara would have thought about that fact. But shrugged it off as soon as he figured the two would have take Kurama on a goodbye bender. This time involving the spirit world, and he would have been the one to apprehend them all and lock them up while they detoxed.

It was both an amusing and sad thought.

Feeling Kurama wave a hand in front of his face, the fire demon blinked as saw his long time friend standing there with his hand stretched out to him. So this was how it would end eh, a simple handshake. He almost wanted to swear and maybe punch the red head in the face or something. But that would be childish and he had long left the days of his childhood behind. So he supposed a simple handshake would just have to do.

Blinking back the sudden burning sensation he felt in his eyes he reached out and grasped Kurama's hand and with a sudden jerk, yanked the red head against him and wrapped his arms around him and patted him on the back and then released him. "Come back for a visit sometime." Hiei said. Somehow managing a steady voice despite the fact that he could feel himself shaking.

Kurama nodded his head in agreement, not trusting himself to speak for the moment. He was still a little stunned by the hug since Hiei generally wasn't a very hands on sort of person. "Yes, of course. It would be very remiss of me not to visit. And you should do the same-" Kurama finally said earning a look from his friend before he asked curiously.

"The same what?"

"Visit. I have over one hundred and fifty acres of land and only live on one of those acres. Anytime you want to visit- Let me know and I'll have the guest room made up for you." Hiei's expression brightened ever so slightly and Kurama could see that the idea pleased the fire demon greatly as he nodded his head in agreement.

And with that Kurama bid his long time friend a last farewell and then turned and walked away.


	2. Chapter 2

Twelve hours later-

It was barely morning when Kurama's private jet set down on an privately owned patch of land in Kentucky that had a small airport built on it. And after getting his things, he made his way down the steps to a waiting car. A slight breeze catching his hair and moving it.

Ah, he could smell the wildness of this land. And had even decided that for a time, he would call it home which was why he had bought such a huge piece of property up in the mountains. He needed the hundred and fifty miles of space for both privacy and to be himself. And he felt that his home should reflect this as much as the land. Which was why before the purchase of the land had gone through, he had visited the US several times to search for just the right place and had finally found it on his third trip.

Some of the smaller mountains in Kentucky had breathtaking scenery, lots of land to run free on if he felt the need to do so. Yet they weren't so very far from civilization that he didn't have a few nieghbors. He did. Several elderly couple.

Three he believed unless his information on them had been wrong.

And he wasn't aversed to having such nieghbors. As long as they weren't young women who simpered, drooled and coped a damn feel! Honestly, sometimes he wished he could find a nice girl like his mother had pleaded with him too for so long and just settle down. But so far there was no human he was interested in.

Stiffling a small yawn and secretly thanking his unique ability to thinking ahead, he thought about the empty king sized bed in his new home and let himself smirk a little. Say what one would about him, but he always knew what he was doing.

He drove for the better part of two in a half hours, stopping only once at a convience store where he got gas for his car, grabbed a large coffee and a few food stuffs to last him until he went into town again either later that day or the next. And then hit the road again.

This time he drove a good fifteen minutes until reaching the turn off that led to his mountain home. Passing several houses as he did. Curiously, his eyes straed from the road every so often to take note of various things about his nieghbor's homes, the state of their vehicles and such. But the further in he got he noted that there was a small rundown shack of a place to his left and like the other places, let his eyes wander for a moment only to feel himself freeze up for a second as he got a good look at the yard.

Why whoever lived in that shack must love flowers as much as he did. The damn things were everywhere! Roses of every size and color, daisies, sun flowers, cosmos, beautiful big peonies, magnolia trees, different speices and colored lilies, hydrangea's, snowballs, snap dragons a multitude of wild flowers- Why the list was endless! And with that brief glance Kurama also almost plowed his car right into the big ditch that he'd missed on his right side.

He managed to swerve and miss doing so at the very last second, but that isn't the point.

He'd almost wrecked his car just now. Which only proved to him just how interested he suddenly was in whoever lived in the shack with the flowers. If he thought back on the information he'd gathered on his nieghbors...then the person living in the shack-like house was seventy five year old Helen Ann Mae's, a widow of almost thirty years and former cafe owner. She now spent her days quietly at home where she made money from her hobby of making herbal teas, lotions, perfumes, and flower arranging.

Hn. She must keep herself so busy out of boredom. Kurama thought in as he made a mental note to visit her soon for some herbal tea and perhaps a colone scent that wouldn't attract every woman in the tri state area. Yeah, that sounded like a plan. He thought, smiling to himself as he restarted his treck up the mountain not knowing that he was being watched from inside of the shack by curious/concerned violet eyes.

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The moment the car started moving again, Kay slipped her fingers from the blinds and let out a small, relieved puff of air as she set the phone down and moved away from the window stiffling a yawn behind her hand.

She'd been sound asleep after her insomnia had finally let up until almost ten minutes ago when she had gotten out of bed to grab something to eat from the kitchen and had been in the middle of making a sandwhich when she'd heard the screetching of brakes and had moved to the window to see what was going on since the sound had sounded too damn close for comfort. And had found a spotless black BMW sitting out in the middle of the road and had frowned and wondered what was wrong.

However when the vehicle hadn't started moving right away she had begun to grow concerned that something may be wrong and had quickly moved to the livingroom and grabbed the phone and then returned to the nearest window to watch. Promising that if the car didn't move in the next minute or so then she would go out and see what the problem was.

Thankfully, she hadn't had to go outside or call 911. She'd had enough of being helpless and watching people die. In fact her grandmother Helen had been the last straw thank you very much. Despite what the rest of her family may think, she had given up far more than should have been necessary just so that she could move in and take care of her grandmother.

After all she had still been in high school when the woman had first gotten ill and shortly after...she'd had to quite school because her grandmother had fallen in the shower and broken her hip and hit her head. The doctors and such had stated that her grandmother would heal, and that the blow to her head might not even hurt her.

And for a while it hadn't been obvious that it had. But when you come home from you're part time job and find you're home on fire and your grandmother acting like the first cave person to discover fire- well, you knew shit was about to get bad. The question was, how bad would it get?

The answer- She'd had to give up her job and had spent the next three years forcing food, medicine, and liquid on her grandmother until the woman's body was so weak she could no longer move or speak. She could no longer awknowledge her presence in the room. Her body no longer hungered or thirsted. And in the end...she had gone so painfully slow that Kay had almost had a nervous breakdown from the stress of it all.

And at the funeral, oh god, don't even get her started on that bullshit.

Everyone had known that she had been taking care of Helen and hadn't bothered to raise a hand to help until the day she practically died. And though her parents had told her not to pay any attention to the bastards- it had hurt her when they had turned on her like the vultures they were. Blaming her for Helen's death instead of thanking her for all her time and efforts.

After all, she hadn't completed her education and had lost her job and original home because everyone was too dumb to help out. The only people in her eyes who had a ligit excuse for not helping out with Helen were her parents and the both of them were doctors who were on call 24/7.

Still it sucked to be twenty one and not have anything to show for it.

But god bless her grandma, Helen must have known something like this would happen because she had taken the time to teach Kay all about flower arranging, making perfumes and herbal teas (which she apparently had an affinity for) and had even left her the rundown old house to live in since it wasn't likely she'd get her former home back.

Yawning again and deciding that she was no longer hungry, she cleaned up her mess and dumped the half sandwhich she'd made in the garbage and then took a moment to stretch as she made her way back down the hallway to her bedroom. She had at least three or so hours left before she had to open shop and she intended to be fresh as a daisy even if it frigging killed her.


	3. Chapter 3

Later that day-

Kurama stood in his new home's main room and felt a small surge of pride as he looked around his new two strory, ten room three bath room home. Taking in everything from the large tree growning in the center of the room to the thick cherry oak walls, the little carvings of vines and flowers running along the door frames and window frames.

The stone fireplace in the far corner of the living room with the bear fur rug in front of it. It was fake of course, mainly because Kurama felt that hunting down and killing an actual bear for this specific purpose was a waste of a perfectly good animal. Besides as a fox demon/human hybrid he found that using real furs of any kind was offensive.

But the fakes were okay since they didn't bother him as much.

The furniture was impressive too. Everything he had wanted, right down to the last detail. All leather (he knew it came from animals- he'd made his peace with that a long time ago. Besides it was damned comfortable) and specially made carved cherry oak pieces from the shelves where his library of books were placed, to the tables and chairs all throughout his home.

Why even his bed headboard was carved cherry oak. Which was good because if he ever brought a woman home with him to mate, the headboard would need to be sturdy enough for him not to break it during foreplay. Everything else in his home was state of the art, especially the kitchen. Everything there was tile and steel.

He had enough room to move around and cook and if he ever decided to entertain guests at his home, there was a nice spacious dining room off to his far left that had an entire wall made up of a sliding glass wall that led outside to a green house where he would plant some of his flowers. Speaking of- maybe he could get some more seeds to plant from Mrs. Mae's.

He'd have to stop and ask if he could gather some seeds and such from her, but first thing was first...now that he'd slept almost six hours and was feeling a little less exhausted than before- it was time to go to the local grocery and pick up some food. Grabbing his wallet and car keys, he walked out the door and locked it and then headed to the car.

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The trip into town didn't take half as long as it had taken him to get out of town this morning, but then that was partially because he didn't know his way very well. And as it turned out the local grocery was just fifty seven minutes away from his home. The store itself was of a decent size since they were so far out in the stix.

And from what he'd already seen upon stepping in, they also had a decent variety of vegetables, meats, pasta's, sea food and the like. Why he'd already hit up the pasta and seafood sections and was working on grabbing some yellow, red, and orange peppers when he was almost mowed down, and startled into dropping the vegetables in his hand as he turned his head and looked at the person who had caused the accident.

If indeed it was an accident, his mind sniped as he came face to face with a young woman in her twenties. The woman in question was startlingly pretty for a human with a heart shaped face, wide violet eyes, long platinum blond hair, and a petite build under baggy clothes. She might be his type, provided of course she proved not to be like every other female he'd ever come across.

Dim witted and lacking in character. To put it bluntly- a bimbo or slut. The last thing he needed was to attach himself to a mate who would cozy up to anything with a dick.

He must have sub conciously been scowling or something due to his thoughts, because she shrank back from him and there was a brief flash of fear in her eyes before he seemed to catch on and let his expression go blank as she let go of her buggy and leaned down and picked up the vegetables that he had had before her buggy had practically ran him down- and held them out to him with a softly muttered apology.

And that was it, Kurama was shocked when she took a moment to grab some peppers herself and then gave him a tight lipped smile and moved on. There had been no fawning, no drooling, no staring, no weird questions about what kind of underwear he preferred- there was just nothing.

It was as if he was a leper or something!

And he was suddenly struck by the irony of their meeting and wasn't sure if he should laugh or cry. _Why god?_ Why now after all these years of looking and trying to find someone- did he finally find a possible someone now? He lamented to himself as he put the peppers back and then grabbed some stuff real quick. Some cabbage, peppers, tomato's, lettace and onions and then quickly started to track the woman through the store until he found her at the meat counter, checking out some of the steak and chicken specials.

"Well if it isn't my favorite girl, Mae's," A tall man with grey hair said from behind the counter, startling Kurama into stopping just a few feet away to watch the exchange. "What can I do for ya girly?"

The blond took a moment or so longer to answer as she chewed her bottom lip for a moment before replying. "I'm not you're girl Bill. And you shouldn't hit on someone old enough to be you're daughter, why, what would you're wife say? Hm?" Causing Kurama's lips to twitch slightly at the slight put down.

"She'd probably say- Please take him."

Rolling her eyes at the man, the girl made a huffing sound then said "I need two packs of chicken thighs, one of legs another of wings, and four of steak. The New York strip please."

"Ah, the usual. Okay. By the way I have a bunch of seafood that needs to be gotten rid of. Interested?"

"Um...no. Sorry."

"That's okay, I'll get you next time."

"Sure you will, Bill." The girl said affectionately as the man went to get her food. Leaving her standing in front of the counter more or less alone.

Now was as oppertune a time as any to bump into her again and gather information on her. Moving his buggy until he was in just the right position, he gave it a subtle little push forcing it to slam into her buggy with almost enough force to not only topple but topple over on top of her.

Which was perhaps what alarmed him so much that he practically panicked and lunged for her. Taking her down with him, his arms wrapping around her slender body as he let both buggys and their contents fall on him while he tried to protect her from possible harm. It was about that time that Bill returned with her things and let out an alarmed shout and came around to help several other employee's dig them out from under the small mountain of food stuffs and broken glass bottles and the two buggies.

"Mae's!" Bill yelled so loud that Kurama felt like snapping at the man to lower the volume of his voice as soon as both buggies and everythign else were gone and he was better able to check on the girl. However upon looking down Kurama noted some slivers of glass stuck in her hair and the place right above one of her temples was bruised and bleeding.

_Well damn_, He all but outwardly snarled. He was making one hell of a first impression. He had been sure that he hadn't used so much energy. So what had gone wrong?

"Mae's! Mae's!" Bill continued as he reached out and carefully took the girl from Kurama while the manager came running over to see if everyone was okay. Kurama dismissed his bruises and cuts as what they were. He could not speak however for the girl since she seemed to be unconsious at the moment. "Guy's she isn't waking up." Bill said in a shakey tone as the manager knelt down for a moment and checked her pulse and then stood back up and told someone to go do something.

"Don't worry Bill, Emily is calling one of her parents and asking them what we should do. I don't think she needs to go to the hospital exactly, but then I'm not a doctor. If one of her parents come here and she still hasn't woken up then she'll go to the hospital to get checked out. Until just stay calm and wait while we get things settled."


	4. Chapter 4

**_Geez people. I know this probably isn't the greatest read but you would think that someone would at least leave an opinion._**

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Getting everything settled with Kurama was easier than expected, a few carefully told lies here and there and to make sure he didn't sue the place for getting injured in their store, the managers all got together and told him; he would get free groceries for next three months. Which made Kurama feel a bit bad for his stunt.

However while he was negotiating with the managers to at least let him pay for the current damaged goods- both his own and the girl's- someone had brought him a new buggy filled to the brim with practically everything from the pasta's, to the seafood, to the vegetables, to a few new items- some of which he'd never buy in a million years- like beer and so on.

_Wow_, He thought almost desparingly, They were really trying to butter him up to avoid a law suit. And...oddly enough- that made him feel kind of even worse for what he had done. Like sick to his stomach kind of worse.

But that was not his primary concern however. In his clumsy efforts to try and meet the girl he had wound up harming her instead. Something that was practically unheard of for the fox demon since he had a rather soft spot for both women and children.

However that was niether here nor there.

As was mentioned before, his current primary concern was the girl he had accidentally wounded. And while he knew she wasn't fatally injured, he still couldn't keep himself from glimpsing at her from time to time and chewing on his lower lip thoughtfully.

Minutes passed, he lost track of how many, but it must have been close to thirty before a bald man a little shorter than Kurama appeared wearing a long white jacket and gloves as he walked past the fox demon, and dropped down to his knees next to 'Bill' and had the slightly hysterical man put the girl down on the floor where there was no glass or liquid so that he could check her head.

"How long has she been unconcious?" The man asked the manager who was about to speak when Kurama cut in.

"About thirty minutes." The man looked at him and the fox demon could honestly say that he was startled to find a similar pair of violet colored eyes that he'd seen earlier in the girl- staring back at him. _Ah_, Kurama thought uncomfortably as he fought the urge to squirm. This man must be the young woman's father. Which makes sense, he supposed. Since the two of them were almost carbon copies of eachother around the eyes. Kurama knew this from when the man had walked past him.

He had eyes just like Hiei used too in his younger days. Eyes that looked straight ahead and saw nothing but his goal or ambitions.

Something told Kurama that this man, was a fierce one. And was perhaps someone he didn't want to tangle with..._ever_.

It took another five minutes or so for the guy to use the store's firstaide kit to remove what little glass had gotten into the girl's wound before sterilizing it and then bandaging it, and moved to pick the girl up- when Kurama moved forward without thinking, and knelt down next to the young woman. And had already slipped an arm under her shoulders and started to lift her up off of the floor when the man gave him a quick, accessing look before putting everything he'd been using to treat her away and then turning to the store manager and asking him to have someone deliver her food to her home for her in the next hour or so.

Carefully cradling the young woman in his arms, Kurama stood and waited for a moment for the man to finish speaking with the manager while another employee grabbed his groceries and with a speed that almost rivaled Hiei's- bagged everything for him and followed him out the door as Kurama carried the girl to a large green colored SUV.

"Hold on son and let me unlock it-" The girl's father said as Kurama felt him move to open the door to the passenger side for him while Kurama occupied himself with studying the female in his arms.

There was just something about her that tugged unmercifully at his heartstings.

And no- he didn't think that just because he had accidentally injured her.

His eyes on her unconsious face, he noted that despite her age- she seemed so much younger up close. More like a child in their early teens really. Frankly he wasn't sure what to think of this particular development. He wasn't such a freak that he indulged in pedophilia. That was a human trait, and he preferred for his potential 'lover' to at least be of drinking age so he didn't have to feel guilty if their relationship became sexual in nature. After all, he had seen many atrocities in the past eighty something years since he himself had been a young man.

And the violence directed towards children of all ages had simply been one of those atrocities that tended, even to this day to turn his stomach.

Feeling a hand on his shoulder, thus snapping him out of his more darker thoughts, Kurama turned his head ever so slightly to the left to look at the girl's father. The man was giving him another one of those strange looks that was eeirily similar to the one he'd given him before. Back when he'd been picking the girl Mae's up. "Everything alright there son?" The man asked curiously. Apparently wondering what the hold up was.

"No sir." Kurama said easily, perhaps a little too easily as he gently loaded the girl into the passenger seat of the SUV and buckled her into place and then stepped back to leave when the man said.

"I heard that you were the one who caused this little fiasco..." Causing Kurama to instantly freeze as he gave the man a wide eyed glance. Wondering where the elder was going with this little conversation.

The car door closed and the guy stepped away from the passenger side where his daughter was resting and continued speaking, "I can appreciate the fact that you just wanted to talk to her. She is a mighty pretty little thing, this girl of mine. She takes after her mother there- But guy's like you don't zero in on the most innocent person in town unless you want something from them. My suggestion to you son is that unless you really want to go all the way here... And I mean the whole nine yards. A ring on her finger, a steady life, kids- Then stay away from her."

Kurama was silent as he mulled over the man's words for a moment before saying. "And what if I cannot promise any of those things?"

The man gave him an evil smirk that reminded him of Yusuke back when he had been young man and angry at the world and said easily as he turned and moved around the SUV to get into it, "Then it's your funeral."


	5. Chapter 5

An little while later- after putting his free groceries away and pulling out a glass and a bottle of his finest imported liquor.

Kurama stood in his kitchen with a glass of bourbon in his hand, his eyes staring unblinkingly out the nearest window at the woods surrounding his home. God. Who would have guessed that earlier would have been one of those strange times when he'd wished the earth would open up and swallow him whole? It had simply been so embarrassing to him, he was surprised that he hadn't blushed as red as his hair.

Honestly. To think that he- the once great king of thieves, would fall so far as to miscalculate even a fraction...all because of an encounter with an unknown young woman that he would do well to forget.

Especially when it seemed so many in the community seemed so damned attached to her. But then again that was part of what seemed to have piqued his interest in her.

Besides, he hadn't move here to find himself a potential bride or a mate. And yet- That was exactly what fate seemed to have literally thrown at him earlier today at the grocery store. And though he would normally ignore 'fate' and it's counterpart 'destiny' he simply couldn't get the girl's face and those wide violet eyes out of his mind.

It felt as if some part of her had latched onto him and was haunting him.

_Damn it all to hell and back, _He thought darkly as he finished off his bourbon and slammed the glass down on the black tile counter next to his sink hard enough to cause cracks in the glass. His mind continued turning over little snippets of information with a speed that would have cripled most humans. Or at the most incapacitated them mentally as well as physically. But since Kurama wasn't the average human his mind coule process things at ten millions of a second.

Far faster than today's most technologically advanced computer.

But that didn't help him figure out how to make things right with Helen Mae's grand daughter. In his efforts to try to speak to her he had done the girl a grievious wrong and though he hated to admit it- he could only be a bastard when dealing with work and Hiei now. So natrually he was all torn up inside over the accident even if it wasn't a bad or fatal one.

Perhaps he should start small...and visit the grandmother and coax some information out of her? Maybe sometime after lunch so that he gives everyone in the Mae's family (and yes, he really means everyone) time to cool down that way he won't feel so out of place when he goes to the small run down shack of a home to see the woman.

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Robert Mae's sat on the corner of his daughter's bed watching her as she slept.

Thankfully the incident from earlier hadn't caused her too much damage or anything- merely a mild cuncussion. Aside from that, once she awoke she should be able to function well enough. And if not- well, he supposed that it couldn't hurt to perhaps take her to be looked at at the hospital.

The only thing was that the hospital was terribly understaffed right at that moment due to an peculiar illness with almost cold like symtoms. And due to that and a large majority of the staff being coughed or sneezed on- many doctors and nurses had become sick as well.

So the farther he could keep Kay from the hospital, the better off she'd be.

He could live with the fact that there was a remote possibility that she could at this very moment be suffering from brain swelling or even damages of a different sort. But he refused to take his daughter someplace for treatment when it wasn't safe for her.

He'd ditch his responsibilities as a doctor and play hooky before that shit happened.

Besides his wife was still at the hospital. And while he wanted her out of there- he knew that even if he called and told her to leave, that their daughter was hurt, she would ignore him and continue to treat the ailing people who made their way to the hospital.

Sighing and knowing that dwelling on it would do nothing to help the situation, he reached out and very gently ran a hand through his daughter's hair. Trying to somewhat untangle the normally neat strands since he knew she'd take a pair of scissors to her hair again if something wasn't done and shuddered a little bit as he recalled the last time she had done so.

Sure she had still looked like his adorable little girl- but his wife, whom was terribly old fashioned- had sparked a war between them that had sent him on a very long buisness trip overseas. Like to the Amazon.

Where illness ran rampant and masquito's were the size of bears... And the snakes there could swallow things the size of tanks!

And when he had returned three months later- the war had still been going on, and he'd not even made it out of his car before he had had to turn back around and go back to the airport, purchase a new ticket someplace and disappear.

The two of them had cost him over six months of travel expenses before he had been dragged back by his twenty nine year old son, James. Kicking and screaming, in a choke hold all the way. Which had just been pathetic considering that he had served in the military for almost ten years and gone through two wars before being discharged back when he had been a young man in his teens-thirties.

Sighing again at the ache that settled in his arm- a subtle reminder that despite his good health for his age- he wasn't a young man anymore and his muscles tended to tire easily, he stopped finger combing Kay's hair and let his hand rest in his lap as he smiled at his sleeping daughter and then stood up and went across her room to where her radio was and turned it on.

Keeping the volume down so low that it was barely audable, he stood there for a moment and strained to hear the music on the radio and felt himself freeze up when he heard that stupid crap kids listened to today. Eminem, fucking A fantastic.

_Memo to self-_ He'd have to talk to Kay about her choice in music. _Rap. Was. Not. Music._


	6. Chapter 6

Later that night-

Kurama stood in the thickest bushes just inside the tree line.

Not quite hidden yet not unhidden. He must have run the entirety of his new property, just exploring and trying to work the stress that his bourbon hadn't eased any. And after working himself up to- he couldn't quite place the emotion at the moment if was so foreign to him- had found himself standing at the border of his and Mrs. Mae's land.

His emerald eyes on the little shack like house. Idly wondering if he should leave a small peace offering of some sort for her granddaughter or if perhaps he should just wait for sunrise when she would be up and about.

He was about to turn to leave when he saw a light flick on in the little shack and saw the slight figure of an young- adolescent female- walk past the window.

Curious as to who the female was (I mean come on, you would too if you had the basic equilavlency of a cat's curiosity embedded in your mind) and wondering what she might be- he moved in closer to peer through the windows of the shack and was given pause when the flowers around the house begun to talk to him.

_When will the 'Voice' come and sing to us? _

Kurama cocked his head and mouthed the words back to himself as he turned those peculiar words over in his mind. While he got down low to the ground just outside one of the living room windows and peered inside the dimly lit room to see the same young woman from the market sitting in a cozy, black lounge chair. Clutching at her head.

No doubt still in pain from his earlier mistake.

Acting without thought, Kurama let his demonic energy spike until it made a fog as thick as pea soup as he reached for the window, his hand was almost touching the smooth, cool glass when she twisted her head around and looked straight at him.

Ducking quickly to keep himself from being caught, Kurama flattened himself against the side of the Mae's home with his legs drawn to his chest and his hand over his mouth. His mind screaming, _It's her! It's her! _As he felt a thrill of excitement course through him as his eyes bled from emerald green to honey gold for a split second.

He couldn't recall feeling so excited since the Demon World Tournament.

And the fact that he was feeling such excitement upon seeing her again, wasn't lost on him. He knew what was going on with him right now. Earlier today. The miscalculation. The desire that had brought him to this place in the dead of the night to check out his neighbor's home.

He had imprinted on the girl. Or rather his inner demon had in the millisecond that they had run into each other at the market. Something about her had called out to him both as a human and a demon. And now he knew-

The display of power he had used in the market today had been part of a demon mating ritual. Much like the miscalculation, which he suspected wasn't truly a miscalculation but rather a subtle show of strength. After all, demons as ancient as he must always show that they can protect their mates, otherwise they wouldn't be chosen by the female that they are trying to impress.

The only question he had was, Why now? Why after almost a hundred and some odd years of being trapped in his human form- untouched by time- did his inner demon suddenly feel the need to imprint on some poor, hapless young woman.

A woman whom as far as he knew, would die before him.

Turning himself slowly, he got onto his knees and slowly, cautiously lifted himself up a tad bit so that he could look into the house again and sucked in a breath when he saw the young woman standing- facing away- the dim light from the lamp making her clothing all but transparent to his eyes.

Normally he would have looked away from what he was seeing, it was simply in his human nature to do so.

But at this very moment, his nature was warring with his demon instinct to continue down this path. Which was possibly why he felt like lightening had probably just struck him. His heart was pounding, his head fuzzy, his palms sweaty, his very blood felt as if it were aflame- Oh wait, that was his hormones kicking into overdrive wasn't it?

Weird.

Was this what human males and females went through upon reaching puberty? If so he pitied the human race as a whole. As it was right this moment he was silently debating on calling Hiei and telling him in excruciating detail what he had to look forward too when he finally imprinted.

Glancing back at the young woman, his mouth went dry at the sight over her stretching her arms up over her head. Her back arched at just the right angle for him to make out her breasts thrust up against the fabric of her clothing- straining as if to be touched- her legs slightly apart as if in invitation and Kurama could feel himself growing hard the longer he gazed at her.

His mind still a tad bit fuzzy, and his control over himself quickly slipping, he slowly inched away from the side of the house and decided it was time to leave before he did something unforgiveable.

Like storm into the Mae's home and ravish the young woman on the living room floor.


	7. Chapter 7

Kay had woken up shortly after her father had left to find a note stating that 1) rap wasn't considered real music. And 2)he would call her every hour or so to make sure that she was awake, well, and most importantly- _alive._ Courtesy of the concussion plus his over protective instincts towards his only surviving daughter.

And since she was to try an stay up and as alert as possible, she had meandered around the house to kill time.

Taking the time to see if she needed to try going back to the market sometime tomorrow and finding her father had arranged for food to be brought to her home and put away. Then grabbed something small to eat (like soup and a really mouth watering grilled cheese to go with it) since she didn't really feel like being on her feet with her head _still_ hurting like a son of a bitch- and ate before cleaning up a bit and then deciding to go shower and take something for the pain.

That had been well over four hours ago.

After which she had decided to do some light inventory for the shop, to check and make sure weather or not she needed to place orders, ship orders out... Small stuff. Simple stuff.

Mind numbingly boring stuff...

Stuff that didn't crack her skull open (though if she had to be honest, right now, even with her head at a dull throb- she sort of wished the boredom would finish her off) however it didn't.

Humming softly to herself as she finished her work and sat back in her seat to stretch, she found herself with nothing left for to do but go into the living room and sit and wait for her father's next call while reading a nice long book. When all of a sudden a chill raced down her spine and she glanced towards the living room window, curious to see what or who had caused the sudden sensation of fluttering in her stomach.

_Something was out there- _She could just _feel _it.

Just beyond the walls and windows of her home, not quite in the thicket of trees and flowers that ran along her property line- watching. Perhaps even waiting for something.

A sign of weakness? A particular movement that could or _would_ illicit an attack?

She didn't know but whatever it was, it had been present for several minutes now and had yet to make a move. As strange as it sounded she simply had a gut instinct about it- as well as a bone deep wariness that made her wonder if she should perhaps call her brother and ask him to come check things out outside.

However as much as she may have wished to do so, she knew quite well the risks one took when confronting a supposed enemy. Especially during a home invasion, and the last thing she wanted was for her brother or one of her neighbors to get hurt or worse on her account.

Searching through the window for a moment, she saw a pair of deep, deep exotically shaped green eyes stare at her for a moment or so as if whoever or whatever was trying to wrestle with a decision of some sort before they- and their owner disappeared in a blur of movement that was more than hard to track in the darkness, right across her lawn and disappeared into the woods.

Leaving her there to stare and partially gape before muttering. "I knew those damn woods were haunted! I told gram! I knew it, knew it, knew it!" As she heard the phone ring and let out a frustrated sound. Oh, whoever was calling was going to hear about this shit.

All those years of having her own family making fun of her now made sense... Ghosts, she could see them. They couldn't. So of course they were going to treat her like the social retard that she pretty much was.

She embarrassed them. Always had.

Though up until now she had never really known why.

Picking up the phone she sighed, "Hi daddy, you are not going to believe what just happened..."


End file.
